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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22443463">you take my hand, leaving me breathless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tofugumball/pseuds/tofugumball'>tofugumball</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Navigate This Maze [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>bare: A Pop Opera - Hartmere/Intrabartolo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cats, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Future Fic, Multi, just one cat. but hes very absorbing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:40:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22443463</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tofugumball/pseuds/tofugumball</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“A long weekend,” Peter blurts out. “Four days, and that’s it.”</p><p>Jason beams up at him and reaches for Peter’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss.</p><p>“Wow,” Nadia says.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason McConnell/Peter Simmonds, Nadia McConnell/Ivy Robinson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Navigate This Maze [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you take my hand, leaving me breathless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy lyric for a happy fic!</p><p>celebrating because i listened to Bare for the first time 2 years ago today</p><p>thank u <a>emmie</a> for betaing &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“But we haven’t been on vacation in ages,” Jason complains, looking up at Peter with hope in his eyes.</p><p>They’re sprawled together on their couch, Jason’s head in Peter’s lap, his hands holding Peter’s arm to his chest. Nadia and Ivy are sitting on the floor, wholly engrossed in carefully petting Bear’s tummy; the tomcat is completely blissed out, purring as loud as a tractor. The TV plays quietly in the background, the movie forgotten.</p><p>“We literally went to Edinburgh for two weeks last summer,” Peter replies, deadpan.</p><p>Jason raises his eyebrows. “My point exactly. That was months ago.”</p><p>Peter tries to throw his hands up in frustration, but Jason is holding tightly onto his left arm. He settles for rolling his eyes at Nadia, who has turned her attention to them and is currently smirking like she’s greatly enjoying herself. Peter shakes his head.</p><p>“We could go to Czechia,” Jason says, tracing light fingers up and down Peter’s forearm. “See that statue of the two pissing dudes.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, is that concept supposed to be appealing?” Peter asks, but the gentle touch makes him shiver. Jason trails his fingers down to Peter’s palm, strokes the delicate inside of his wrist. Peter takes a deep breath.</p><p>“A long weekend,” he blurts out. “Four days, and that’s it. Not everyone can work freelance, you know.”</p><p>Jason beams up at him and reaches for Peter’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss.</p><p>“Wow,” Nadia says. Peter scowls at her half-heartedly, his heart still beating a little fast, and she puts her hands up in mock surrender.</p><p>“I volunteer to cat-sit,” Ivy calls, not looking away from Bear who is currently stretched out on the wooden floor in a long, graceful curve, Ivy watching him with an awestruck look on her face.</p><p>“Babe,” she reaches blindly for Nadia’s hand. “We are getting a cat, or so help me, god–”</p><p>Nadia smiles helplessly. “Absolutely,” she says immediately, and then it’s Peter’s turn to smirk and raise his eyebrow at her.</p><p>“Oh, shut it, Simmonds,” Nadia mutters. “We’re both hopeless, what about it.”</p><p>“Nothing,” Jason says out of the blue, as Ivy finally looks away from Bear to give Nadia a kiss. He shifts so that his face is pressed into Peter’s stomach and repeats, “let’s never change anything. This is perfect.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Later, the movie ends and Nadia and Peter get into an argument about a plot point which neither of them even paid close attention to, but Jason suspects they do it just because they like to argue; it’s their bizarre way of showing each other affection.</p><p>He goes to the kitchen with Ivy and makes coffee while she feeds cat treats to Bear by hand. It’s comfortable, the companionable silence between them, and Jason startles slightly when Ivy speaks up in a teasing voice.</p><p>“Nice work back there. You better bring me a postcard from Czechia.”</p><p>Jason laughs. “I’d feel guilty, but he <em>really</em> needs a holiday. He’s been stressed out of his mind because of work lately. Good thing it’s only temporary or I’d have to, I don’t know, stage an intervention or something.”</p><p>Ivy hums sympathetically.</p><p>They’re silent for a while until Bear eats the last treat and Ivy stands up to wash her hands. She looks around the kitchen; at the row of magnets on the fridge, the empty plant pot on the windowsill with “KING” scrawled on it in uneven letters, the cat-feeding schedule stuck to the wall.</p><p>“Did you ever imagine you’d end up like this, back at school?” She asks, feeling scared all of a sudden; the happiness around her seems so fragile in that moment. They’ve all survived, but only just.</p><p>Jason finishes pouring the coffee into three mugs and lemonade into a fourth one (Peter can’t have caffeine after midday or it fucks up his sleep schedule, and it’s probably weird that Jason finds it adorable) and turns to face her, leaning against the counter.</p><p>“Not really. But not because– I mean, I knew I didn’t want the future my parents had planned out for me, but it wasn’t like I had any ideas of my own. And I knew I wanted to be with Peter, but I never thought it’d be possible in the long run.” He looks up from the floor and into her eyes, and fuck, he’s always loved how honest they are; how over the years, the urgent compassion and pain in them turned into love and understanding.</p><p>Jason’s listened to Nadia’s tipsy ramblings about the beauty of Ivy’s eyes countless times, and he can’t say he blames her.</p><p>“I mostly just tried <em>not</em> to think about it, you know?” He continues when Ivy doesn’t say anything. “It was Peter who– He always said it would all work out, and he was right in the end.” He smiles fondly.</p><p>Ivy smiles back, steadied. “It’s so surreal to think about us back then,” she says wistfully. “Nadia and I think it’s hilarious now, how vicious we used to be to each other. But it was all so painful while it was happening.”</p><p>“Still, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming,” Jason smirks before shooing Bear off the stove. The cat sprawls on the floor and looks at him reproachfully.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Ivy rolls her eyes as she adds sugar to Nadia’s coffee. “You keep telling yourself that.”</p><p>“Jason!” Peter calls from the living room, “what was the name of that actor we saw in that movie last week?”</p><p>Jason and Ivy look at each other and laugh silently, then each pick up two mugs and head out of the kitchen.</p><p>Exit, pursued by a Bear.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>&lt;3</p><p>i'm on <a>tumblr</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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